Chips-first multichip module fabrication may employ a number of approaches. One approach, the so-called General Electric/Texas Instrument High Density Interconnect (HDI) technique, requires that a hole be machined having a specific depth and location on the supporting substrate for each electronic component to be mounted. Electronic component means hereinafter an integrated circuit, resistor, capacitor or any other electrical device that may be associated with electronic circuits. The components are then placed in their tailored holes so that the tops of the components in conjunction with the remaining lands or plateaus of the substrate create a planar surface. A solid continuous encapsulating layer is then bonded to the components and substrate. This technique has a number of shortcomings. Since the dimensions of even the same component varies from piece to piece the holes must be made larger than the largest tolerance expected for that component. This increases the area required for each component and reduces the overall packing density obtainable. Also reducing that density is the fact that the holes cannot be contiguous: they must have a land or plateau between them. Further, since the holes are larger than some of the components, the components can assume a variety of orientations, which requires that a large and expensive laser lithography technique be used to properly identify the orientation of each component. Also, the substrates have to be thicker than the thickest component, which adds to the weight and cost of the finished device. Further, removing defective components from such holes or recesses is extremely costly. Another approach, the Integrated System Assembly (ISA) process, thins every component to be mounted to a predetermined thickness and then mounts them directly on the substrate. Following this, an uncured polymer is dispensed onto the substrate around the component. After curing the entire assembly is ground down to obtain a flat surface for receiving subsequent layers. One disadvantage of this process is that cured polymers shrink, this induces stresses in the substrate, which can cause premature failure. Failure requires that all layers subsequently added after encapsulation be removed in order to remove the component. This can be extremely time consuming and expensive.